Intersecting Trajectories

The restaurant would close in ninety minutes. Tom looked around.  More people were leaving than entering. In spite of it getting late he hadn't lost hope. Hope? What was he hoping for? He asked himself the same question again. This time he felt he should find the answer.

Tom was waiting for his ex-wife in the restaurant. They had been divorced about fifteen years ago. After he left the house he never tried to contact her or the two children he had from her. But a week ago his childhood friend Tim told him about a chance meeting with her. Tim had seen her giving a presentation on the products of her company in the hall of a large hotel in the city. She seemed so confident. She had made a noteworthy progress in her career. "And she will surely go even further" thought Tim when he saw her presentation. He told about her to Tom the next day. "I knew Laura was going to make a good progress", said Tom. Suddenly he felt curious to know more about her. Coincidentally, at the same moment Tim asked "want to meet her?" "Yes" replied Tom. After he had said "yes" he thought "what is the harm in meeting her?" Tim looked at his expressionless face and said "I can talk to her and arrange a meeting with you in a hotel room". Tom immediately said "I don't need privacy. Even a park or restaurant will do". "OK", said Tim, "our usual restaurant then". How did Tim convenience Laura to meet Tom? Was it difficult? Or did she agree immediately? Tom wanted to ask these questions to Tim, but didn't. Tim was surprised because Tom did not ask if she was accompanied by his children. Tom displayed no curiosity about his children.

As Tom waited, he wondered why he had agreed to meet Laura. Did he want to be together with her? That seemed improbable. He didn't think much about her after he left. Rather he had felt a kind of relief after the divorce proceedings ended. It was only during the past couple of years that her thoughts occurred to him with increasing frequency. But they were just thoughts. Random memories… woken up on seeing families in public places. But it was not just now that he was seeing families. They always existed in public places. Why was he noticing them only now? Funny thoughts. He pushed the question out of his mind. He came back to the first question. Why did he agree to meet with Laura? Was he curious to know more about her? Curious about her? No. He was never curious about her. He never tried to find out what she had been doing, or how she was raising his children. He knew she was a practical and career oriented woman. A woman capable of multitasking. She could manage her career and look after the children simultaneously. So why was he waiting for her now here? Was he hoping to get together with her? To start a life together? No. Never. So why would he think now? "A general curiosity", he thought, "nothing special". Just then he heard footsteps approaching his table from behind. A woman was walking with quick steps straight to his table, her clothes making swishing noise. He turned around. She was a slim and smart woman dressed smartly, walking with confidence in her gait. The woman was Laura. Their eyes met. "Sorry, I am late", she said. "It's OK", said Tom without a smile. Laura sat down facing him.

Now Tom could see her face clearly. There were some signs of ageing on her face. Small, thin lines at the corner of her eyes. Hair less dense. Cheeks had sunk in slightly. Her skin had lost some luster as well. Laura smiled as she caught him examining her face. "You have changed a bit", she said to Tom. Tom suddenly became conscious of himself. He had started to develop a potbelly. He was wearing reading glasses now and his hairline was receding. After a day’s work his coat looked a bit shabby. "Time", he said with a smile.

"Two coffee, please" said Laura to an approaching waiter. The waiter turned around quickly and left. Laura checked time in her mobile phone and said, "Tim says you are doing well in the stock market?" "Lady luck has been happy with me for quite some time", he said trying to keep his face straight. "How's life?" she asked placing both her elbows on the table and her chin on her crossed fingers. "A...a... all right", said Tom. Why did she ask the same question again? Then he realized what she meant. This time she hadn't asked him about his work. "I've a few friends", he began in a low voice looking at a painting hanging on a wall, "enjoy going out once in a while. Nice company... I mean friend circle". He felt as if he was giving an explanation. He checked himself. There was no need to be so defensive. "How's your life?" he asked her. He felt as if he had made a counter attack now. "Fine!" said Laura with a smile. It was a genuine smile. "Good work, nice friends...all is fine". She kept looking at him for a few seconds silently. Tom felt uncomfortable. Why was she looking at him that way? Accusingly? Was she expecting him to say something? Was he forgetting something? He couldn't think of anything. Finally he said "shall we go for a ride in my car?" "What?" asked Laura taking a deep breath. It seemed she knew he was going to disappoint her. "Don't worry", Tom said, "It's a new car. The one I always wanted. Even better". "Never mind", said Laura somewhat reproachfully. "My hotel is close by and I have to leave soon". Just then the waiter arrived. He placed the cups on the table and left quickly. Just then a family sitting a few tables away got up to leave. The children made a lot of noise with the chair as they got up. Tom didn't like it. But they reminded him something. "How are the children!" he asked happily as if he had won a race.

Laura gave a deep sigh. She felt frustrated. As if she had caught a culprit but couldn't do anything. "The children are fine", she said, staring into his eyes. Tom understood that she wanted him to ask about them. "How is their education going on?" he asked. He was prepared to hear "That's none of your business", but Laura seemed to have mellowed now. "Fine. The elder one will finish her school this year. The younger one has three more years to go", Laura said as if he wouldn't recognize them by their names. "College education is costly", said Tom. He felt concerned and he wanted Laura to know that. "Money is not a problem" said Laura, "My job is paying me well and they will surely get a scholarship". Tom felt a kind of relief.  They fell silent again. "Do you invest in stocks?" Tom asked. Laura smiled. "The children wanted to meet you," she said. Tom looked at her without saying anything. He didn't know what to say. "But I said I didn't know if you were living in this city anymore", she said. Tom felt he should thank her for not putting him in a difficult situation. He sat quietly sipping his coffee. Finding him relaxed, Laura asked "You married?" "She doesn't like to see me relaxed" thought Tom. He felt irritated. "What difference does it make to her now?" he thought and took a sip of coffee. Laura saw him sitting silently and said "never mind". Tom felt that not answering her would mean he had done something wrong. "Oh, I never married" he said, "but I had a relationship". Laura knew.

"With the same girl?" Laura asked. The girl, Olivia, had been the last straw... for both of them. After marriage Tom and Laura stayed happy for a few years. But after their first child was born, they quarreled over everything. Tom would get frustrated and leave his house for a long walk. He used to feel better in his office. His colleagues were nice to him. Better than Laura. It was there that he met Olivia. A nice charming girl. She was good at work, at least not bad. She befriended everyone. So everyone helped her with her work and the boss never had a reason to complain. Tom helped her most. One day Tom was in a bad mood in the office after having a fight with Laura in the morning. Olivia sensed something was wrong with him. In the evening after office hours, she invited him to her house. She lived in a rented flat a few kilometers from the office. Tom saw her well kept house and felt very calm. He complemented her for being so systematic. Then over a cup of coffee that Olivia made, he compared the condition of his house with her flat. "Your wife has to manage her career and also look after her children", she said, "obviously she can't keep her house in a perfect order". Tom knew she would say something like this. Then she thanked him for being so helpful with her work. She talked about herself. A normal childhood. Good education provided by her parents. She studied hard to prove herself. To be eligible for a good job. She had to face a tough competition to get this job. She succeeded through hard work. She always wanted to be independent. To earn enough to support herself. "You are not independent if you are not financially independent" she believed.

"If you are financially independent you don't have to answer anybody", said Olivia. Tom agreed. What she said was obviously true. Wasn't it? "Then you can do whatever you like", she said and Tom listened, as he sat sipping his coffee on the white sofa in Laura's house. Laura kept talking. "I believe you should live life as you like. Otherwise what is the point in living?" Tom sat with his sight glued to the floor. When she fell silent for a few moments, Tom thought she was expecting a response from him. He had to say something. He thought for a second and said, "Contracts. You cannot be totally free because contracts bind you. You make contracts with others for some or the reason. For example, you have made a contract with your employer that you will finish a given amount of work in a fixed amount of time and receive payment for it. So you are not free." Laura agreed. "I am not free in a sense. True. In order to be financially independent, I have agreed to work for a fixed duration daily. But after that duration I am free. And the work I do is specified in the contract. They cannot assign me any random work. I am not from a very rich family. I want to be independent for which I have to play a price which I am doing. From every contract you must get at least as much you are putting in. If they start harassing me in the office I can resign and get another job. I can break the contract if the other party is unfair. Any contract can be broken if you think you are getting a raw deal". Here she felt silent and looked at him. He had to respond. "True. Obviously true". Olivia stood in front of him with her shoulders thrown back and her hair loose. She held her cup of coffee in her hand and looked down towards him. "Not just true", she said "It's common sense". Again she waited for an answer. "Hmm...", said Tom shifting his eye sight away from her staring eyes, "it's true. What you say is true", he said. Could he break a contract from which he got nothing? That was the thought at the top in his mind. "What are you thinking?" asked Olivia. She wanted to clear all his doubts. "Contracts. There are consequences of breaking a contract", said Tom in a low voice, looking at a vacant spot on a wall. "Of course there are", said Olivia, "but I am a strong woman. I know that if I resign from the job, I will get another job. Anywhere. I am that competent". Tom looked at her face. She was calm. Her eyes looked half closed as she was still standing and looking down towards him. He felt her expressionless face was challenging him. She came close to him. She kept her knee on the sofa and then sat down next to him. Still looking straight in his eyes, she asked him "are you confident? Are you a confident independent man? A human being... who thinks he has a right to be happy?"

It was a moment when Tom thought he had a right to be happy. For next few hours, Tom was happy and Olivia had her way, passionately. Finally Tom reached home after his usual dinner time. He said there was too much work at the office. Laura served him dinner. When he went to bed, Laura smelt a strange perfume. Maybe she even found a long hair on the back of his coat. She had her ways of making inquiries and she found out the truth. After all Tom couldn't stop meeting Olivia again in the same week. Laura felt insulted and humiliated at being cheated. One fine morning, at the breakfast table she confronted Tom with all the proofs against him. Initially he tried to dodge her questions, but when he saw she knew everything in detail, he got irritated and confessed with a straight face that he had cheated her. "OK, so that's it", he said looking straight in her eyes. "It happened by mistake" said he. "Go to hell", said his eyes. "We can't continue together", Laura said. That was what he wanted. "Can't you forgive me", he said successfully hiding his smile. He left the rented house and moved into a flat that was close to the flat of Olivia.

"Yes, with the same girl", said Tom to Laura as they sat sipping their coffee in the restaurant. "Are you still with her?" Laura asked. "No", said Tom, "and what did you do after our divorce?" "I had to hire a baby sitter in order to continue working in my office", said Laura, as the past fifteen years passed in front of her eyes.

Laura had to hire a baby sitter. To pay the extra expenditure incurred on the baby sitter, she had to work even more. She did not talk about Tom to her children. The children understood her reluctance to talk about their father so they did not ask her. Laura did not want her children to be irresponsible. She never missed an opportunity of talking about being responsible in all walks of life. She prepared her children for tomorrow, the kind of life they should lead. The children were intelligent. They understood everything she said. They never argued with her. They never troubled her. Laura got promotions for doing her job well. She made herself an example for her children to follow. She loved them. She tried to spend as much time with them as possible. She found it hard to strike a balance between working to maintain her lifestyle and following her maternal instincts to be with her children. But she succeeded. At least till now she had been successful. She was ready to pay the bill for the two cups of coffee that she had ordered. She could pay the bill for Tom’s dinner too, if the meeting continued long.

"So you did not marry Olivia? Then whom did you marry? Or did you remain single? " Laura emptied her magazine of questions. She was curious.

"Olivia was an ambitious girl", said Tom, "she found a better partner and a better job. Then I came to know that she never married though she got into a few more relationships. The last I heard was that she chose to be a single mother without marrying". "Maternal instincts are strong", said Laura, "and what about you?" "I too had a few short term relationships with a few girls. Each time my emotional involvement was less than the previous one. Now I have given up. My business is going strong. Initially I used to buy shiny cars and clothes to get partners. As I got famous for my capacity to spend, I got many partners one after the other, all for short period. "That is a hedonist life style", said Laura. "I have heard that word more than once", said Tom, "but that's the way I live". "This way of living doesn't go well in the long run", said Laura. "Who has seen tomorrow?” said Tom, “This is the moment in which you can possibly live. What if I get out of this restaurant and a truck hits me by mistake and I die? Anything can happen. I have to live as much as possible in the present moment".

Laura felt the meeting was over. There was no point in continuing the meeting with Tom. Tom felt Laura had nothing to offer to him. So he too got up. The waiter had already brought the bill and Laura paid it. Tom didn't mind.